Machine pipe wrench



Mar. 6, 1923.

Wh-NEss C. S. WRIGHT MACHINE PIPE WRENCH Filed Feb. 16, 1921 5 sheets-sheet l INVENTOR Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,744

0. s. WRIGHT MACHINE PIPE WRENCH Filed Feb. 16, 1921 5 sheets-sheet 2 TW M. m.

Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,744

c. s. WRIGHT MACHINE PIPE WRENCH Filed Feb. 16, 1921 5 sheets-sheet 5 IVH/ENTOK Giw WITNESS iff reamed e, 1923.

CLYDE S. WRIGHT, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL SUPPLY COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MACHINE PIPE WRENCH.

Application filed February 16, 1921. Serial No. 445,338.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLYDE S. l VmoH'r, acitizen of the United States, residing at T0- ledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machine Pipe \Vrenches, of which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to wrenches of the machine type, particularly designed for connecting earth-boring drill-bits to drill-stems and disconnecting them therefrom, but it ma be applied to other purposes.

n the usual practice of changing drillbits on drill-stems several tools, as acks and wrenches are employed, requiring a large number of operations and the expenditure of considerable hard work by the attendants. The main object of the present invention is to provide in a single unit a power device whereby the work of connecting and disconnecting drill-bits may be more rapidly and easily accomplished than by the said usual practice. Other objects are hereinafter stated.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation showing my invention in its practical application just after a drillbit and a drill-stein have been disconnected from each other or just before they are connected. parts being broken away; Fig. 2, an elevation of the lower end of Fig. 1 with some of the parts in different positions'froin those shown on Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a front elevation of the wrench; Fig. 4, a side view of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan view of Fig. 3 with some of the parts omitted; Fig. 6, a vertical section of Fig. 5 on the line VI-VI; Fig. 7, a top plan view of the bit-holding, or rotatable, portion of the wrench; Fig. 8, a side elevation of Fig. 7; Fig. 9, an end view of fillers used to prevent a drill-stem from turning in the wrench; and Fig. 10, a side view of Fig. 9.

On the drawings, 1 designates a drillstem having a round cross-section except near its lower end where it has a square cross-scction 2 just above the tapered screwsocket 3. The drill-bit 4. which has its upper end only illustrated, has near its upper end the square section 5. The drill-bit has the horizontal shoulders 6 at the junction of the square section 5 and the terminal round portion which bears the threaded pin 7 which is adapted to fit the socket 3.

s-designates a metal frame having the drlll-s-tem receiving and holding member 9 at its upper end and the pendant member 10 for supporting the mechanism for rotating the drill-bit. The said member 9 comprises a horizontal metal bloc-k having the slot 11 extending with parallel sides from its members 13 of the lever 14. The studs have enlarged or flanged spacing members 15 between the member 9 and the adjacent fork members 13 to accommodate the inner legs of the clevises 16 which straddle the forkmembers and are pivotally connected to them by the pins 17. Each clevis is provided with a chain 18 which maybe connected to the hook 19 of the chain hoisting device 20, suspended by its hook 21 on the carriage 22 which has travel on the crane 23, only a part thereof being shown.

The member 10 of the frame 8 has the ver tical slot- 24 continuous with the slot 11. The interiorof the member 10 is preferably chambered out as shown at 25 with a circular cross-section somewhat larger than the width of the slot 24. The lower end of the chamber 25 is provided wit-h the inturncd flange 26 extending entirely around thesame except between the sides of the slot 2 1.

27 is a horizontal rotatable wrench member on the lower end of the frame member 10. The member 27 has on its upper side the swivel plate 28 having its periphery arc shaped to correspond to the curvature of the interior face of the chamber 25. The

plate is undercut so as to form the periph-' eral flange 29 which rests upon the flange 26. The member 27 has a vertical slot 30 extending from its periphery past its center. The slot has parallel sides spaced apart to fit the opposite sides of the square portion 5 of the drill-bit 4. \Vhen the said portion 5 is in the slot, the shoulders 6 rest on the member 27 and support the bit, as shown in Fig. 1. The plate 28 has a slot 31 with its sides parallel with those of the slot 30 and with a depth as great as that of the slot 30. The slot 31 has a width at least equal and have the nuts 33 thereon. Some of the nuts screw up against the bottom of the member 27, but the nuts on the bolts at opposite sides of the slot 30 screw up against the plates 34 which carry the handles 35 for rotating the member 27 manually.

The outer faces of the member 10 of the frame 8 have at each side a pair of vertical worm-carrier 37, pivoted near its upper edge on a horizontal pin 38. Each pin 38 extends through a carrier 37 and the pair of adjacent flanges 36. The lower edge of each carrier 37 has a central slot 39 having at its ends the lugs 40 which serve as bearings for the worms 41, rotatable in the slots by means of levers 42 inserted in the holes 43 in the heads 44 which are connected to the journals of the worms. The worms 41 mesh with the worm-wheel teeth in the periphery of the member 27. The worms are locked in mesh with the said teeth by means of the removable ins 45 which extend through the carriers 3 and the flanges 36. The worms may be held out of mesh with the said teeth by inserting the pins 45 through the members 37 and allowing their ends to rest on the ed es of the flanges 36, as shown on Fig. l.

uppose it is required to screw together the drill-stem 1 and the drill-bit 4. The crane 23 with the hoisting device 20, from which my wrench is suspended, is swung out so that the latter is over the well being drilled. The drill-bit is suspended in the slot 30 by means of its shoulders (S resting on the member 27, as shown in Fig. 1. The worms 41 being held away from the member 27 as shown in F ig. 1, the said member can be rotated freely by the-handles 35 so as to bring the slot 30 in registry with the slot 24 in the frame member 10. This permits the drill-bit to be inserted laterally into the slots 24, 30, and 31. The drill-stem 1 is suitably'suspended by a separate hoisting device, not shown, so that the drill-stem is in the slot 11, and the socket 3 is directly over the pin 7. Power is then exerted downwardly on the lever 14 so as to bring the wrench upwardly so as to cause the pin 7 to enter the socket 3. At this time the jaw member 27 is rotated by means of the bandles 35 until the shoulders on the ends of the stem and bit make as tight a joint 49 as can be made in this manner. At this time, the square 2 on the drill-stem is partly in the slot 11, as shown in Fig. 2. The member 27 is turned by the handles 35 until the square 2 has its opposite sides parallel with the sides of the slot 11. Then the metal fillers 46 are placed in the slot 11 between the sides thereof and the sides of the square 2, the thickness of the fillers being such as to prevent the relative rotation of the frame 8 and the stem 1. The fillers may be a pair of L-shaped lates of metal spaced apart by the tube 4'? and secured into a unit by a bolt 48 extending through the fillers and the spacing tube. The pins 45 are next withdrawn and the worm-carriers lowered so as to allow the worms 41 to mesh with the worm-wheel member 27. Then the pins 45 are inserted through the carriers 37 and the flanges 36. The worms are then turned by flanges 36, between WhlCll is mounted a the operation of the levers 42 in an obvious manner, until the joint 49 between the ends of the stem and bit has been made as tight as lpossible.

fter the joint 49 has been made sufficiently tight, the worm-carriers are removed to their inoperative positions, the fillers 46 are removed, and the member 27 is rotated so as to bring the slots 24 and 30 in registry. The connected drill-stem and drill-bit beingsuitably supported, my wrench may be swung away to allow the drill-string to be lowered into the well. It is to be noted that the worms are spaced so that, when one is in registry with the open end of the slot 11, the other worm is still in driving connection with the rotary member 27..

By reversing the operation described, a drill-bit may be detached from the drillstem.

I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention, but I do not consider my invention to be limited to the specific structure and details herein explained. Within the scope of the appended claims various changes in form and arrangement may be made without departing from my invention.

I claim:

1. In a Wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined rods, a frame member having a slot to receive one rod, a rotary member supported by the frame member and having a slot to receive the other rod, means when idle locking the rods from relative rotation, and when active driving the rotary member, and means readily relieving the first means from its said locking and driving functions.

2. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined rods, a frame member. having a slot to receive one rod, a rotary member supported by the frame member and having a slot to receive the other rod, means preventing the rotation of each member with respect to its associated member, and means for moving one member longitudinally of the other. I

3. In a wrench for connecting and die connecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame member having a vertical slot in which the upper rod may rotate axially, means preventing the rod from rotating in the slot, a rotary member having an open vertical slot in registry with the first slot and adapted to support the lower rod and cause it to rotate therewith and a pair of driving gears for the rotary member, one gear arranged to drive the rotary member whenthe other gear is in registry with-the open end of the slot in the rotary member.

4. In a wrench for connecting and disr connecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame member having a vertical slot in which the upper rod may rotate axially, means preventing the rod from rotating in the slot, a rotary member having a vertical slot in registery with the first slot and adapted to support the lower rod and cause it to rotate therewith, and means for moving one rod longitudinally of the other.

5. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame havin a slot in which the upper rod may be he d from rotation, a support, a lever connected to the frame and to the support for raising and lowering the frame, and a rotary member supported by the frame and having a slot b which the lower rod may be supporte and rotated.

6. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame having a slot in which the upper rod may be held from rotation, a support, a lever connected to the frame and to the support for raising and lowering the frame, a rotary member supported by the frame and having a slot by which the lower rod may be supported and rotated, and a hoisting means connected to the support.

7. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame having a slot in which the upper rod may be held from rotation, a support, a lever connected to the frame and to the support for raising and lowering the frame, a rotary member supported by the frame and having a slot by which the lower rod may be supported and rotated, a hoisting means connected to the support, and a crane to support the hoisting means.

8. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame having a. slot in which the upper rod may be held from rotation, a support for the frame, a rotary member having an open slot by which the lower rod may be rotated, and separable worm gears for rotating the rotatable member, for locking the frame and member in relatively fixed rotary relation, and for releasing the frame and member from said relation.

9. In a wrench for connecting and disconnecting the opposing threaded ends of alined vertical rods, a frame having a slot in which the upper rod may be held from rotation, a support for the frame, a rotary member provided with peripheral worm teeth and having a. slot by which the lower rod may be rotated, a worm meshing with the said teeth, a carrier supporting the worm and movably supported by the frame, and means whereby the carrier may be locked with the worm out of mesh with the said teeth.

Signed at Toledo, Ohio, this 1st day of February, 1921.

CLYDE S. WRIGHT. 

